AMA TAWIA ENGMAN v. DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- MARFUL-SAU, JA (PRESIDING)
- ADUAMA OSEI, JA
- TORKORNOO, JA
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
On October 21, 2009, the High Court in Accra dismissed the Plaintiff/Appellant's claims for declaration of title, recovery of possession, damages for trespass, and perpetual injunction on a parcel of land in Tesano. The Plaintiff/Appellant's claim of ownership stemmed from a gift in her father's will, but the Defendant/Respondent claimed lawful acquisition. The High Court ruled in favor of the Defendant/Respondent, finding the deceased had no interest in the land at his death, thus invalidating the Plaintiff/Appellant's claim. The Plaintiff/Appellant appealed the decision, asserting errors in legal principles and evidence evaluation. The appellate court, however, upheld the High Court's decision, agreeing that the Plaintiff/Appellant failed to establish her title and that possession defense stood strong against claims except from a true owner.
ADUAMA OSEI
On the 21st of October, 2009, the High Court, Accra, dismissed an action by the Plaintiff/Appellant in which she sought against the Defendant/Respondent declaration of title, recovery of possession, damages for trespass and perpetual injunction in respect of a parcel of land at Tesano in Accra.
The basis of the Plaintiff/Appellant's claim, as emerges from the statement of claim that accompanied her writ of summons, was that she was the owner of the disputed land by virtue of a gift contained in the will of her late father, Kojo Dom, who died on 1st November, 1998, but that the Defendant/Respondent had entered upon it without lawful authority and had been building on it in disregard of her demands for it to vacate the same.
On its part, the Defendant/Respondent had denied the Plaintiff/Appellant's claim to ownership of the disputed land, contending that it had lawfully acquired the same from one Mr. Emmanuel Adu Mensah.
The Defendant/Respondent alleged in its statement of defence that, prior to its acquisition of the land, it had conducted an official search at the Lands Commission and that the return to the search had disclosed that the disputed land had been conveyed to one Mr. Ofosu Appiah by Kojo Dom in 1996, and that Mr. Ofosu Appiah had, in turn, conveyed it to its grantor, Mr. Emmanuel Adu Mensah, in 2000.
At the end of the trial, the High Court had identified as the key issue for determination the question whether at the time of his death in November, 1998, Kojo Dom still had an interest in the disputed property so as to entitle the Plaintiff/Appellant to claim ownership of the disputed property on the basis of a gift contained in his will.
The High Court's answer to this question was that Kojo Dom had no interest in the disputed land at the date of his death and, therefore, that his will could not vest title to the disputed land in the Plaintiff/Appellant.
It was on this ground that in its judgment dated the 21st of October, 2009, the High Court had dismissed the Plaintiff/Appellant's action as stated above.
Not satisfied with the said judgment, the Plaintiff/Appellant has appealed against the same to this Court and this is our judgment in the appeal.
In this judgment, the Plaintiff/Appellant is referred to as "the Appellant", and the Defendant/Respondent is referred to as "the Respondent". The judgment appealed against is at page 92 to page 98 of the Appeal Record, and the Notice of Appeal is at pages 99 and 100 of the said Re